FORT WAYNE — The area will be well-represented at Saturday's cross country state meet. Competing in the New Haven Semistate at The Plex on the campus of IPFW Saturday afternoon, the Warsaw girls and boys finished third and fourth, respectively, while the Whitko boys placed sixth, advancing themselves to the state meet Saturday in Terre Haute at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, located at the Wabash Valley Sports Center. The state meet trip will be the second in school history for both the Warsaw boys and girls, with the girls having just made it two years ago. "Our first goal coming into today was to make it to state," Warsaw girls coach Scott Erba said. "We're only the second team in Warsaw history to make it to state. So, that was our primary goal." When the girls made it to state two years ago, a freshman named Ashley Erba led the way, going undefeated during the season and winning the semistate in a time of 18:57. As a junior, Ashley Erba has returned to her freshman-form, once again blowing away the competition in the regular season, and still hasn't had any threats of losing, winning the semistate in 18:07. She finished 32 seconds ahead of runner-up Samantha Roush, a sophomore from Columbia City. "Time-wise, I'm not going to say I was disappointed, but I wanted to go under 18:00," Ashley Erba said. "It was sloppy conditions, and it was really tough when you're running alone. I felt good about it and I'm looking forward to next week." Making this season even more impressive is the fact she's been running so well without even being pushed. "It's really different, but I can't really compare because I've been running alone all year," Ashley Erba said about running alone, as opposed to being pushed by a competitor. "So, it's hard to say how much more (competition) pushes you, but I feel there's this whole other level of overdrive I can go into, but I haven't been able to reach it by myself. Hopefully, with some of the best girls in the state, I can do it next week." At the state meet, Ashley Erba will undoubtedly be one of the favorites, just as she was as a freshman. However, during her first state run, she became ill during the race, and couldn't finish. This season, apart from staying healthy, she has a different mindset going into the final race of the season. "I feel a lot stronger and I am more prepared for this state experience," she said. "As a freshman, I really had no idea what I was going into. This year, I feel like I have a much better grip on it. It's something I can embrace, instead of thinking, 'Oh my goodness.'" Along with Ashley Erba's strong performance, sophomore Anna Bearss placed 12th in 19:16, while senior Brooke Kline was 33rd, followed by junior Kristin Quick (36th), senior Creigh Ogle (60th), sophomore Madeline Hooks (104th) and senior Lilly Fleming (116th). And although they did qualify for state, Scott Erba had a goal of defeating No. 7 Carroll, which finished first with 89 points, while No. 16 Fort Wayne Concordia scored 90 and No. 12 Warsaw finished with 106. "My thought was, this weekend or next weekend we'd be up in front of Carroll," Scott Erba said. "So, I guess it will have to be next weekend. We've talked about placing higher than we ever have before teamwise, and also get some individually in the top 25 — making all-state. I really believe we have two girls who can do that." On the boys side, fifth-ranked Mishawaka finished first with 67 points, followed by No. 13, South Bend St. Joseph's 83, No. 11 Carroll's 121, No. 22 Warsaw's 141, No. 19 Fort Wayne Snider's 170 and Whitko's 202. By finishing in the top six, Warsaw punched the program's second trip to the state finals, while Whitko will be making its first by nipping No. 12 Homestead by five points for the final transfer spot. "Homestead has been so dominate in the area this whole season and blew us away at the (Marion) regional," Whitko coach Mike McKeighen said. "We looked at the score, and thought they were a school we could catch, but honestly, I thought they'd be in the top three. It was relief, because the teams we were keying on got us and Homestead kind of fell back to us." To get that win, the Whitko Wildcats used a pack mentality, as senior Trapper Mize led the way with a 24th-place finish, followed by senior Brody Wilson (32nd), senior Dylan Cozad (50th), senior Jude Stieglitz (54th), senior Dallas Asher (74th), freshman Derek Miller (111th) and senior Josh Busenbark (150th). "They ran exactly how they needed to," McKeighen said. "We started in the back as a pack and began to pick people off. We knew if we picked people off the whole time, at least we'd have given our best, because we'd be passing people. "It came down to Trapper and Brody dropping a major kick at the end to get six or seven people each," he added. "They just fed off each other." While Whitko was clinging to a sixth-place finish, the Warsaw Tigers made it a little bit more comfortably. "It feels good for the team," Warsaw boys coach Jim Mills said. "It's hard to describe. It's been a long time, and I think it's only the second time for the school. The guys feel great and the coaching staff feels great. "Really early on in the season, we knew we had depth, but as you go through the season, you have to be healthy," he added. "We've been healthy, we haven't had any sickness or injuries and we've had the depth to rest athletes. It's paid off." As he's done all season, junior Jacob Poyner led the Tigers, finishing seventh in 16:04, but in a meet like this, you need more than one runner and the Tigers got that. "The key to our success today was Ellis Coon's race and Robert Murphy's race," Mills said about the two, who finished 19th and 36th, respectively. "Ellis was (personal record) at 16:26 and Robert Murphy, as usual, was the most reliable runner we have on the team, running in the 16:40s. We thought, if we had Jake up front, like he's always been, and if we had Ellis in the 20s and Robert in the 40s, we'd be in good shape." Along with the aforementioned Warsaw runners, other Tiger finishes were sophomore Ismael Calderon's 45th, senior Michael Smolen's 58th, freshman Michael Compton's 69th and junior Brysten James' 95th. With each team having accomplished its goals entering the season, the only thing left to do is see how they can fare against the state's best. "It's awesome to think about state being a week away," Ashley Erba said. "It's definitely exciting and it's something I've been looking forward to all year."
BOYS Team Scores — Mishawaka 67, SB St. Joe 83, Carroll 121, Warsaw 141, FW Snider 170, Whitko 202, Homestead 207, FW Dwenger 215, Northridge 242, FW Concordia 250, South Adams 268, Fremont 279, Pendleton Heights 281, Goshen 395, Muncie Central 401, Frankton 424, Eastbrook 437, Columbia City 457, Mt. Vernon 464, Delta 536 Top 15 Individuals (Advance To State) — 1. Joey Zielinski (St. Joe) 15:40, 2. Miguel Lozano (Mishawaka) 15:50, 3. Evan Liechty (South Adams) 15:59.22, 4. Eric Hancock (Mishawaka) 15:59.90. 5. Nicholas Lagemann (Prairie Heights) 16:00, 6. Keigan Culler (Fremont) 16:03, 7. Jacob Poyner (Warsaw) 16:04, 8. Jordan Annis (Mishawaka) 16:05, 9. Zachery Panning (Concordia) 16:07, 10. Luke Miller (Dwenger) 16:09.31, 11. Tyler Herber (Fremont) 16:09.52, 12. Connor Method (St. Joe) 16:09.85, 13. Jacob Reinking (Concordia) 16:10, 14. Josh O'Brien (St. Joe) 16:13.16, 15. Stefan Harry (Wapahani) 16:13.80 Warsaw — 7. Poyner 16:04, 19. Ellis Coon 16:26, 36. Robert Murphy 16:43, 45. Ismael Calderon 16:52, 58. Michael Smolen 17:02, 69. Michael Compton 17:12, 95. Brysten James 17:32 Whitko — 24. Trapper Mize 16:37, 32. Brody Wilson 16:41, 50. Dylan Cozad 16:55, 54. Jude Stieglitz 16:59, 74. Dallas Asher 17:15, 111. Derek Miller 17:48, 150. Josh Busenbark 20:23
GIRLS Team Scores — Carroll 89, FW Concordia 90, Warsaw 106, Penn 141, Northridge 158, Huntington North 189, Homestead 247, Mishawaka 252, SB St. Joe 262, Angola 272, Columbia City 281, Pendleton Heights 298, Norwell 320, West Noble 351, Mt. Vernon 354, Jay County 410, Yorktown 428, FW Snider 433, Eastbrook 440, Delta 462 Top 15 (Advance To State) — 1. Ashley Erba (Warsaw) 18:07, 2. Samantha Roush (Columbia City) 18:38, 3. Madison Woods (Penn) 18:45, 4. Anna Reibs (Concordia) 18:49, 5. Mariana Konow (Concordia) 18:51, 6. Ericka Rinehart (Angola) 18:59.56, 7. Kristina Galat (Penn) 18:59.61, 8. Abigail Hostetler 19:01, 9. Tiffany Rauch (FW North Side) 19:05, 10. Anna Aldrich (Fremont) 19:09, 11. Olivia Hippensteel (Carroll) 19:13, 12. Anna Bearss (Warsaw) 19:16, 13. Darby Mountford (St. Joe) 19:17, 14. Lauren Pottschmidt (Penn) 19:19.20, 15. Whitney Wiist (Winchester) 19:19.54 Warsaw — 1. Erba 18:07, 12. Bearss 19:16, 33. Brooke Kline 20:04, 36. Kristin Quick 20:06, 60. Creigh Ogle 20:35, 104. Madeline Hooks 21:28, 116. Lilly Fleming 21:44
